August 24, 2025 • 60 mins
When you feel like you’re starting to sink in the storm, call on the name of Jesus. He’s near, and He won’t let you go down. Don’t panic and obsess over the problem, because when you sync up with Jesus, things can change just that quick.
If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: http://ele.vc/tIepfr
To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world, click here: http://www.elevationchurch.org/giving/
Scripture References:
Matthew 14, verses 22-32
Isaiah 55, verses 6-11
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope
this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it
gives your.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Perspective to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy
the message. Lift your name up. Lord. Thank you for
meeting us in the secret place. Lord. Thank you for
(00:38):
speaking to our hearts that it's going to be all
right and then we're gonna make it, and that you're
working your purpose out. Thank you for reminding us today
how big you are. God. Mountain is nothing to you.
That mountain is nothing to you. You're a big God,
(01:00):
a great God, a worthy God, a holy God, a
mighty God. I give you praise. Who are you great
mountain to stand before my God? I give you praise. Lord,
I worship you today. Not a shame to praise you,
not a shame to celebrate you. After everything you've done
(01:23):
for me, I owe you the praise. I owe you hollelujahs.
I owe you ten thousand more hallelujahs.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
If I had ten thousand tomes still, it wouldn't be enough.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
If I had ten thousand comes enough. So Lord, every
need in this room, every name in this room. You know,
we know the name that is above every name, the
name of Jesus in his name. Today we have gathered,
touching and agreed that it shall be done Your Kingdom,
(01:59):
come on earth as it is in heaven in our lives.
Touchdown now, God. I know technically that's not how it works,
but just bring heaven to earth for a few moments.
Thank you Lord for letting us get out of the
hell of our own heads and our own mines, and
just worship you and say Your Holy Lord. For all
(02:19):
of the people who didn't jump when I said jump,
forgive them, Lord, don't give them a flat tire. They're
just a little sore and a little tired and a
little insecure about their rhythm. But it's all right, Lord.
We came with one purpose, and one purpose only to
praise your holy name. Great is your name, greatly to
be praise in Jesus name. Amen. Hunt ten people.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Whoa this is the final week our series.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
That's what I thought. You are sad. You are so
sad to see this series come to an end. But
I feel that you have no more need of teaching
about your mind and your thoughts. I think that we
have preached all the crazy out of you. If you're
standing next to your spouse, look at him and say,
pastor is delusional. Stand a b on your feet. I'm
(03:25):
gonna read the scripture right now. I'm so glad you're
here today. A special welcome to two of our locations.
Our Matthew's location is celebrating a sixteen year anniversary today,
Praise the Lord. Our Uptown location is celebrating seventeen years
of ministry today. That's amazing. That's as old as my
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middle son. Y'all. I look at my son and Graham
sometimes and say, I got campuses older than you. Boy. Yeah,
it's good. Remember, Officer, when we used to drive around,
we would do Butler High School uptown, get back over
to Providence. This is early days of the church, because
we didn't have all of this sinking up between all
(04:11):
the campuses and you know, look in the camera and
welcome to the campuses. We didn't have all of that.
So if I had to get to the campus, I
had to get there when they were finishing the last song.
And they knew to always have a few extra songs ready.
But Josh is a police officer, so he was driving
like one hundred and ten miles an hour. Happy birthday
to Josh van Almen. By the way, those are some
good memories man, Me and you and that Nissan Maxima
(04:35):
just doing ministry at the speed of God. I mean,
just running there, huffing and puffing like I am right now,
after jumping around and spinning around. By the way, if
any of you want to be preachers one day, I
would not advise jumping and spinning before you preach. It
is very disorienting. But I just got excited about what
God can do. All of a sudden, I got to thinking,
(05:02):
what if God answered a prayer that some grandmother has
been praying for her granddaughter suddenly today. What if God
gave you clarity on something you've been confused about suddenly today.
What if you were walking out today and one of
the greeters was handsome and single suddenly today. So I'm
(05:26):
excited about Jesus. I want to preach about Jesus today.
From Matthew chapter fourteen, verses twenty two through thirty five,
first Bible story that I ever preached for our last
sermon in the series. That's what I thought, Tell your neighbor,
that's what I thought. I say, this is the last one.
(05:48):
I think it's the last one. If the Lord wants
me to keep going, I will. But my plan is
today to take some of the things we've been preaching
about and minister them to your heart. Welcome to all
of our locations. Put it in the comment on YouTube.
That's what I thought. This is our final installment. Yeah,
this is the first Bible story that I ever preached,
so I always try to preach it at least once
(06:09):
a year, just to check in and see how dumb
I was the last time I preached it, or what
new thing God will show me. Glad you're here today. Welcome,
Welcome to the presence of God. Welcome to a new beginning.
Welcome to a space where Grace reigns supreme and where
Jesus is Lord and King. Welcome to a place where
(06:30):
you can hear his word. Now, the Bible says a word.
We were just singing about this word in verse twenty two,
so it's appropriate. Immediately immediately Jesus made the disciples get
into the boat and go on ahead of him to
the other side. Well, he dismissed the crowd. After he
(06:51):
had dismissed them, he went up on a mountain side
by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there
alone boat with the disciples. The boat was already a
considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the
wind was against it. Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out
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to them walking on the lake. When the disciples saw
him on the lake, they were terrified. It's a ghost,
they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately
said to them, take courage it as I don't be afraid. Lord,
if it's you. Peter replied, tell me to come to
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you on the water. Come, he said. When Peter got
down out of the boat, walked on the water and
came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, it
was blowing the whole dime. But when he focused on
it what was against him. When he saw the wind,
(08:00):
he was afraid. Fear comes from focus. So does faith
change your focus? Increase your faith. That's why you feel
faith when you're in here, because you are focused in here.
And when he focused on what was against him, rather
than the one who was coming toward him, named Jesus,
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he began to sink. He began to sink and cried out, Lord,
save me. Here it is again. Immediately Jesus reached out
his hand and caught him. You of little faith, He said,
why did you doubt? Why did you doubt? And when
(08:45):
they climbed into the boat, the wind died down, and
those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, truly,
this is the son of God. But go back to
that other verse real quick, in verse thirty. But when
he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink,
cried out, Lord, save me, And immediately Jesus reached out
his hand and caught him. I want to talk to
you today from this subject because this is how some
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of you have been feeling. I want to talk about
sinking in the storm. Sinking in the storm. This is
the way it feels at times in our emotions, and
in our lives, and in our circumstances, sinking in the storm.
And there is a subtitle that you can give your
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neighbor on the way to your seat, look at them
and say just that quick. Hit your other neighbor and
say just that quick, and you may be seated sinking
in the storm. Please put the title in the comments
on YouTube. Let's welcome our global EPHAM joining up with
us right now. Come on, y'all. I know you're getting seated,
(09:50):
but let's welcome our entire church family all over the world.
Let us know where you're watching from. I want to
talk to you today about sinking in the storm. Feeling
that you get sometimes that you're overwhelmed. The feeling that
you get sometimes that there's too much month and not
enough money, too much need and not enough me to
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meet it. All that's spread thin feeling, that feeling that
you get, and it doesn't always announce itself, And all
of a sudden there is a storm and you find
yourself sinking in the storm. Any crazy how you can
be singing in the church and just a few days
later find yourself sinking in the storm. And this place
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is a place that God has prepared for us, to
prepare us for the storms of our life. You cannot
be a student of Jesus without storms as your classroom.
Anything else would make you arrogant, anything else would make
you write a parenting book. And your oldest kid is three,
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you're three months pregnant, talking about how to raise teenagers
God's way. What's wrong? Would you go through a storm
and then you'll have something to say in this season
of your life, God is calling you to be a
student of your storm. What does this have to do
with thinking? Well, it's amazing to me how quickly I
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can go from stepping on the water, so to speak,
to sinking. And I can really shift quickly from being
focused on God to falling down and finding myself in
emotional states that do not resemble the fruit of the spirit. Okay,
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just me, just me, look at your neighbors. Say. It
can happen quick. It can happen real quick. And if
your neighbor is looking like they don't know what I'm
talking about, cut them off in traffic on the way
out and see how quick they go from lifting their
hands to lifting one finger. It can happen just that quick.
(12:04):
Can it? Just even your phone can buzz in your pocket,
And it might not even be the person that you
don't want to hear from, with the news that you
don't want to hear, But just the buzz itself can
disrupt your peace. Can it? Even just even the buzz
in your pocket, it can feel like a shot collar,
just reminding you that your challenges are out there in
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the world. Sometimes it can happen just that quick. Now.
I'm so glad that Jesus is a savior because I'm
a sinner, so I need one and I have sinful thoughts.
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All of my thoughts aren't holy thoughts, good thoughts, pure thoughts,
and so I need Jesus for my sinful thoughts, which
can become sinful actions, which can become sinful patterns, which
may not send me to hell, but may make my
life on earth feel like a living hell. I'm so
grateful that Jesus is a savior, and I am also
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so thankful that he is not a surface level savior.
That he doesn't just save me from hell when I die,
but he saves me from the hell in my head
as he transforms my mind and brings me through life's challenges.
I need salvation in my soul. That's my mind, my will,
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my emotions. I need Jesus to teach me how to think.
And in this passage that we just read, there's a
conversation between the student of Jesus and Jesus the Savior,
and Jesus is watching him sink in the storm. By
the way, have you been feeling like you're sinking in
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a storm lately in your life. And it doesn't have
to even be bankruptcy. It doesn't even have to be
something so catastrophic that everybody would take up money for
you if they knew about it. It doesn't have to
be the worst thing that ever happened in your life.
I just found that a lot of times I find
myself in like a funk or maybe even a full
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blown feeling of depression. And in those moments when God
is watching me sink into those states, I'm grateful that
He does not give me surface level answers like church
people do. Because church people will tell you rejoice in
the Lord always, but they ain't rejoicing in the Lord.
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They only been rejoicing in the Lord because they had
a good week. Catch them next week and they might
have a different answer. It can happen that quick. And
Jesus watching Peter fall in the middle of a storm
that had been raging all night. Remember he's been going
through this all night, and he steps out, and he's
walking and he's sinking, and he cries out, Lord save me.
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I think that's such an important phrase. One great theologian
who just went to be with the Lord. Doctor John
MacArthur used to say, a lot of us refuse Jesus
as Lord, but we want to use Jesus as savior.
So I think it's important that he called him Lord
before he called on him to save him. I'm trying
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to say that God wants far more for your life
than to just save you from stupid stuff that you do.
He wants far more for your life than to just
clean up the messes that you make because you never
spend time with him. God wants far more for your
life than to have to redeem years that you waste
because you never get aligned with him. And so now
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Peter calls out, Lord, save me, and the Bible says,
immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. Now
we focus a lot, and I really preached this a
lot at age sixteen. How Peter had the faith to
step out when Jesus said, come, somebody shall come. That's
a command. When Jesus gives a command, you can obey
it with confidence. When Jesus gives a command, you don't
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have to start doing the math on how it's going
to work out. When Jesus gives a command. He already
has the details in mind for how he will meet
that need before you even know about the need. So
when he says, come, take a step, and then we
talk so much about the command that we neglect the
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question that I think is just as powerful as the command.
He said, come, Peter's coming, He said, walk. Peter's walking.
He gave the word, and Peter is walking, not on water,
but on one word from Jesus. I could preach a
whole message about walking on one word, just one word
that God gives you, and you can hang on through
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something that you never would have made it through without
that word, one word from Jesus, the command to come.
But then comes the question. After he caught him, he said,
you of little faith, why did you doubt? Why did
you doubt? Because if I can get beneath the surface
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of why you're sinking, I can maybe stop it from
happening so quickly next time. A lot of times we
sink into things and we don't stop and ask why.
A lot of times we get triggered by something. And
after you get triggered, see you get trapped. You don't
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even realize how you got triggered until you're already trapped.
I'll break it down for you. I can see we
need a little real life example right now. When Holly
and I first got married, we went on a cruise.
I saved up for the cruise. It was a Princess cruise,
which is a little step up from some of the
other cruises you can buy. I was so proud of
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that cruise and so broke after I paid for it.
Three days on the cruise, she was very quiet one day.
And when she got quiet on that cruise, it triggered
something inside of me that I didn't know because I
equated quiet with board. So when she got quiet, I
started to get angry because she was quiet. For Holly,
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quiet means relaxed. Quiet means nobody telling me to do anything.
I don't have to talk. I love you. We're together
just being This is what she was saying. Your essence
alone is so captivating. We don't even need a conversation.
But I interpreted her quiet as boredom, and we would
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fight for years in our marriage. Anytime she would get quiet,
I would think, you don't like it here, This isn't
good enough for you. Your dad took you on better vacations.
What you don't need my vacation. No, I'm relaxed. But see,
just in such a stupid illustration like that, you see
how years can go on because I'm reading her mind
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with information that is not true data, and I am
triggered by something that isn't even true. But by the
time I recognize what I'm triggered by, I'm already trapped
in it. And now we're fighting. And so now it's
not that we never get triggered in our marriage. But
here's what we do, and I want to teach you
how to do this. We catch it quicker, We catch
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it quicker. Don't your neighbors say, catch it quicker, Catch
it quicker before you blow up on them, before you
go off on them, before you hit sind on the text,
proofread it, hire yourself as a copy editor, and check
that thing one more time. Do you really want to
say you never? Do you really want to say you always?
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Do you really need six exclamation points? Is it really
worth that emoji? Is that emoji worth the emotional expense
of what you are going to spend the next week
cleaning up? And all of that could have been canceled
if you would have caught it quicker and read the
text and walk up in the morning with fresh eyes
and said, I think I'll just have a conversation. But
we get triggered and then we get trapped. And that's
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why the Lord sent a preacher to you today to
give you truth, because the truth can keep you out
of the trap. Preach the word, Larry Stevens Vernick Junior.
I believe I will. So when you start sinking, you
get beneath the surface. And this is what we need
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to learn to do.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Now.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
They'll tell you that in therapy, if you go to therapy,
they'll talk about triggers and traps and cognitive distortions. And
you sound like you've been in therapy. Best or Seed,
no comment. We need therapy, we also need theology to
produce real faith and real change in our life. So
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I want to show you something that I couldn't end
the series without showing you from Isaiah fifty five and
overlay it for this situation that you're facing in your life.
The situation Peter faced where he's stepping, stepping, stepping, doing
pretty good and then sinking and doesn't even really understand why.
Look at Isaiah chapter fifty five, and I was debating
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where to start, because the whole passage is so rich.
But for the sake of time, I think i'll start
around verse six seven. It start six Isaiah fifty five,
verse six. Yeah, I did on purpose. Isaiah fifty five,
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verse six. Now listen to me. This is an invitation
to all of you who have been sinking in the storm.
The Lord offers you an invitation. The wind is the
trigger and the sinking is the trap, and sometimes you
feel like you're drowning in it before you even know
what it is. But this is the word of the Lord,
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and this will be very rich to you for the
trials that you're going through. The Lord says, seek the
Lord while he may be found, call on him while
he is near. Let's read that again, Seek the Lord
while he may be found, Call on him while he
is near. I'm coming back to that, call on him
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while he's near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and
the unrighteous their thoughts. So this is interesting language. I'll
read the whole passage, but that's where I want to
camp out around verse six or seven. Let the wicked
forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them
turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on
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them and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are my
ways your ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher,
higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than
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your ways. God says, I know how to do my job.
God says, I know who to let leave you. God says,
I know who to bring into your life. That is
a challenge for you. You keep praying to be a masterpiece,
and every time I send someone to be the sandpaper,
you push them away. But I know what tools to
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you to turn you into the disciple that I want
you to be. He says, my ways are higher than
your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the
rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do
not return to it without watering the earth and making
it butt and flourish, so that it yields seed for
the sower and bread for the eater. So is my
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word that goes out from my mouth. I hear Jesus
saying come. When I read Isaiah fifty five, I feel
the echo of this prophecy. In Matthew chapter fourteen, I
feel the power of one word from God? He says,
so is my word just one word? So is my
word the full counsel of the Word of God has value,
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but just one singular word that goes from my mouth.
It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish
what I desire and achieve the purpose. Many are the plans,
but it is the purpose for which I scent it
that will be accomplished. So why did Jesus send a
disciple into a storm that he knew was going to happen?
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And why does God allow challenges to our faith instead
of just bolstering us with the Bible so that we
avoid them? And Isaiah chapter fifty five gives an interesting strategy. Okay,
let me teach you what Isaiah is teaching here. He says,
you can seek the Lord, you can call on him,
but you have to be willing verse seven to forsake
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your ways and your unrighteous thoughts. Now that's interesting language
to say that I'm going to forsake a thought. That's
crazy to me me because when you say forsake something,
it's something that you have become very attached to. You
don't forsake something that you don't even know, You don't
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even know it. To forsake something is to walk away
from something that it is assumed you have responsibility for.
So when God says I will never leave you nor
forsake you, forsaking has baked into it the idea that
I am responsible for this. I'm not saying it right.
I say it. You can drop a thought like this book.
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You can drop a thought he said, forsake your ways
because My ways are higher, and your thoughts that are
not from God. And how many times have I been
drowning in my mind and in my life because of
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the thought that I wouldn't drop about my situation? How
many times have I clung to an offense while I'm
drowning in my bitterness and I am asking God to
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help me forgive. But if I don't drop, I'm gonna
do it again. If I don't drop the thought, I drown.
That's what I'm trying to say. Now. I said it
the way I want to say it. Tell your neighbor
drop it or drown. That's the only two options you
have right now, because you can't afford to play around
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with this right now, because there's too much at stake
at this juncture of your life. Right now, it's drop
it or drown. You've got to stop thinking childishly about
this and waiting on people to come around and make
it right. And you just got to get your heart
right with God. And you've got to let him show
you what he's going to do from the place that
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you're at, not the place that you want it to be.
Punch your neighbors say, drop it. Drop it so you
don't drown. Drop it so you don't keep sinking. Drop
it so it doesn't weigh you down. Drop it so
you don't miss the last the next season that God
wants to give you crying about the season that you lost.
You better drop this thing. And the thing about dropping
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a thought is it's kind of hard for me to
drop my thought until I understand that God can also
drop a thought. This is one thing I'm ready to
preach today. This is one thing that me and God
have in common. We can both drop thoughts. I can
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take a thought in my mind. I can take a
tempting thought. I can take a bitter thought. I could
take an angry thought. I can take a victimized thought.
I can take a catastrophizing thought. I can take a
wicked thought. I can take a thought, and I can
look at it, and I can separate myself from the thought,
and by the grace of Jesus, by the grace of God,
by the power of the Holy Spirit, I can look
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at the thought and realize that just because I think
it doesn't mean I have to be it. So I
can drop a thought. And how dumb would it be
for you to drown on this sea because of something
you won't drop. How dumb would it be? The Bible says,
forsake your thoughts when they're not God's ways. His ways
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are higher. So when He shows you the higher way,
don't stay down in the way you did it, the
way they did it, the way you thought you were
gonna do it. Drop your thoughts so God can drop
his What you mean, God can drop a thought? I
mean like airdrop. I mean like how I could take
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my phone and put it next to your phone, and
if it's near enough, you can choose to share with
me what's on your phone On my phone. If we
are close enough to connect, you can drop something to
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me that I didn't come with. And now you know
why it was important for you to be at church
today so you could get close to God and close
to somebody, fist pump your neighbor and say, I'll drop
you some faith today. Fist bump them real quick and
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say I got something for you. Tell them I'll air
drop you some peace today. I'll air drop you some
joy today. The Bible says that if two of you
will agree, well we got a lot more than two,
baby boy. And the holy ghost in me is the
holy ghost in you. And if you came a little
empty today, there is a word from God. And if
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you don't feel it right now, then grace him by faith.
Know something clicks in your spirit and you get the
sense I think I'm gonna be all right. Top five
your neighbor, like your air dropping something. Oh that's good,
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isn't it? Isn't that good to know that God can
drop you a thought. Forget about a human They might
not have it. But if I'm close enough to Jesus,
what I didn't get from other people, what I didn't
have in my flesh, God did by sending his son. See,
so you can drop a thought, and so can God.
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And the moment you drop your low thought, the moment
you drop your human thought, the moment you drop your
sinking thought. Notice the Bible says that immediate lee, Jesus
reached out his hand and caught him. Why did Jesus
catch him at that moment and instead of keeping him
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from the storm. Good question, because probably wouldn't be a
good story. Second thing I want to mention to you
is what Jesus was doing before he joined the disciples
on the rough sea. When you get in those situations,
doubt in fear, flooding your heart, drowning in doubt, flooded
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with fear, drowning in doubt, flooded in fear. Oh, it
came so quick. I don't know what to do. There
is something that Jesus models for us that is so
important to remember. And at our Elevation Night's events, if
you ever come, you'll see a very special moment that
we have that we host each night in each city
where we sing the song the Blessing. And before we
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sing it, I have Abby and Holly join me on stage,
and Abby, since she was about eleven years old, comes
up and reads the scripture. She has it my memory
now of course numbers chapter six, verse twenty two through
twenty four. She'd say it backwards now, but the first
time asked her to do it. I was like, would
you mind coming up and reading the scripture that the
blessing comes from and sang it over the people. I
think it'll be really special. And I was expecting her
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to be nervous to do that. I was like, would
you like to do it? Would it be too scary.
It's like, let me be scary. I'd love to do it,
just very confident, very quickly. She got up the first
night and nailed it, and she has nailed it every
single night well. On the last tour. On the last tour,
I made a few changes to how I wanted to
present it. And when I made a few changes and alterations,
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you know, I saw her start to get a little uncertain.
She was like, well, no, wait a minute. If Dad
announces the scripture here and it comes after this song,
because when things change like that, it could be destabilizing,
even if you really know what you're doing. I am
coming for you today, because things can change on you
and you're like, no, wait, I know how to do this,
but not like right here, like this right now, not
with them right here right now. I'm just kind of
(33:07):
be stabilized. So she was kind of complaining to Holly
that Dad is changing the schedule, and Dad is changing
the order of elevation nights, and this is going to
mess up my flow. And Holly pulled her to the
side and she said something, and I was very proud
to hear her tell Abby this. She said, Abby, if
there is one thing I have learned in over twenty
years of doing ministry with your dad, it's that if
(33:28):
you are with Dad on stage, you don't need to
worry if he is near you. If you're next to Dad,
he won't let it go bad. Abby. Even if you
(33:54):
drop the line in the middle, even if you say Halley,
he'll say Lujah. Even if you say praise the he'll
say Lord. He is not going to let it go bad.
If you are next to Dad, he won't let it
go bad. And you got to think. The Disciples have
(34:15):
been doing ministry with Jesus for a little while now.
This is Matthew chapter fourteen, not Matthew chapter one. They've
seen some things, and they've even been through storms. But
this one is different because the last storm they went
through with Jesus, he was on the boat with them.
This one's a little different because they just got done
(34:35):
with a spectacular miracle and I want to tell you
something about spectacular things that God does in your life.
Just as quickly as you start to celebrate the spectacular,
a new struggle can show up just that quick. Somebody
say it just that quit. I mean they just picked
(34:56):
up the leftovers. They just dismissed the crowds. Jesus says,
I need you boys to go to the next appointment,
But he conveniently leaves out the detail that you are
going to encounter a violent, furious squall on the open
sea getting to where I'm sending you. But I'm not
telling you about that part because, as I taught you
last week, details follow obedience. So when Jesus gives a command,
(35:21):
he does not have to give you every single component
of that command. He wants to put you in school
to know. Will you be my disciple if I don't
give you the details, will you do what I told
you to do when you don't know where it's leading?
And into this atmosphere. The disciples are straining in the
boat all night long. I mean, you really can't see
(35:41):
it from Matthew's account. It says in Mark's account that
they were straining at the oars. It means that they
were all rowing together all night long, but Jesus was
not physically with them. What was Jesus doing? In Matthew
Chapter fourteen, verse twenty two, the Bible says, immediately after
sending the crowd away, dismissing them and sending them home,
(36:02):
and the disciples in the boat to go to the
next appointment and go on ahead of him to the
other side while he dismissed the crowd verse twenty three.
After he had dismissed them, he went up on a
mountain side by himself to pray. Later that night, he
was there alone next verse, and the boat was already
(36:26):
a considerable distance from land. You don't have to be
nervous when you're next to Dad. But now I'm in
a season where the boat is out here and Jesus
is back there. Yet note what Jesus is doing. He
is praying. Watch this. Jesus is getting alone with God
(36:51):
to get aligned with God. And sometimes when you're facing
all of these crazy thoughts in your life, you've got
to remember to get alone with God to get aligned
with God. Alone with God, to get aligned with God.
(37:11):
He's praying on a mountain. My ways are higher. See
remember the people wanted to make Jesus an earthly king,
but he came to die on a criminal's cross, and
at this moment in his life, it was really important
that he did not follow the crowd's recommendation for his
(37:32):
next step, because to follow the crowd at this moment
would have pulled him off of the path of his
father's purpose. Are you in that moment, pulling at you
from one side, pulling at you from the other, one
person telling you that you need to be skinnier, one
person telling you that you could stand to put a
little meat on the bones. I went on Holly's Instagram
(37:54):
feed the other day. I didn't know they were telling
women to eat protein and creatine to be reserved for
teenage boys. When did the women get to do the
protein and creatine that's supposed to be our thing? Man?
Now she's being told. I'm like, what are you doing, Holly?
You're lifting weights? Used to do cardio. She's like, yeah,
that's what I'm supposed to do now, And if you're
(38:14):
not careful, you'll be lifting a weight and drinking a
protein shake and putting on weight and losing weight because
they will change it in three years. We are only
three years away from them telling us that creatine causes
cancer and it makes your mom hates she gives you
bad breath and make all your babies born to form.
I mean, they're changing it all the time. So if
I don't ever get alone with God, I can't be
(38:36):
aligned with God because it's too much noise, it's too
much crowd. I'm sinking. Am I sinking because I'm not sitting?
And if I would sit with God sometimes, or even
just in a moment where I'm about to walk into something,
(38:59):
if I was myself and say, oh, Lord, you know
I'm about to be triggered in here. Well, I don't
want to get trapped. Lord, you know it's about to
be windy when I walk into this situation. I wonder
what one moment with God could do for you this
week before you go into a windy condition. Just a
(39:21):
moment with him. Now, Jesus, he's up there praying all night,
and he has to because what He's about to do
is so amazing. When he lands on the other side,
he is going to heal the sick. But the disciples
don't know that. When he lands on the other side,
there is a revival waiting. But the disciples don't know that.
(39:42):
All they know is they're going through a storm. And
may I remind you you have no idea what God
has on the other side of your storm. You have
no idea how He's going to use you. You have no
idea how He is going to unleash something that could
have never otherwise been unleashed in your life. See now,
I see the passage a little bit differently. In Matthew
(40:03):
chapter fourteen, when it says Peter began to sink, put
that back up there for a minute. It says Peter
began to sink, and he cried out, Lord, save me,
verse thirty one. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and
caught him. You have little faith, I realized as I
(40:24):
read that over and over again, and I thought about
Jesus spending all night praying alone on the mountain and
making intercession for us and Heaven. Right now I realized
that Peter wasn't the only one sinking. Jesus was too.
Y'all think I'm a hero itic. Hold on, I got
(40:46):
to explain this the right way. Thinking has two different meanings.
If you spell it si NK, it means going down.
(41:07):
But if you spell it sync. It's more than a
boy band. It means if you've got something on your
phone that I need on my phone, and we get
close enough, we can sink. So maybe this passage isn't
(41:30):
about a sinking Peter. Maybe it's about a sinking savior.
Phone drop moment, Phone drop moment, Phone drop moment, Because
now I realize, no, no, keep celebrating, keep celebrating. I
need a way to preach this. Now I realize that
(41:54):
the whole time he was on that mountain, he was
praying for Peter, because while Peter was sinking, Jesus was sinking.
And my way are higher than your ways, and my
thought are higher than your thought. So I came to declare,
(42:17):
you're not going down. Jesus is praying for you. He's
praying for you. He's praying for you. He sees you
in this storm, he sees you in this dilemma. He
sees you, and he's sinking. He's sinking. Sometimes you gotta
(42:41):
sink in the storm, not go down in the storm,
but hook up with God and say, if it's you,
tell me to come, give me a worse, show me away,
send me a path, make me away. God, Your neighbor,
you look like you're sinking. I'm sinking with a C.
(43:04):
I'm sinking with a what yo? When I got this phone.
I remember, I got this new phone, and none of
the stuff was on it that was supposed to be
on it for a little while. And if I would
have assumed that the new phone was worse because all
of the old pictures, all of the old songs, all
of the old data, all of the old files was
not on the new phone, I would have been incorrect.
(43:26):
Because everything that was on my phone before I got
the new one was still there. It was just in
something called the cloud. Now I don't know where the
cloud technically is. I kind of get it, but I
thought about Isaiah fifty five. As high as the heavens
are above the herd, so or my ways above your ways.
(43:48):
I tell your neighbor, I got something in the cloud.
I got a promise that's yes, and amen, I got
a sure work for God. He put me here, he
called me here, and so it was sinking. It was sinking.
(44:08):
Jesus didn't leave them. He was sinking. He was sinking.
He had to let them struggle a little while so
they could know who he is. As a matter of fact,
they didn't even call him the son of God till
the wind died down, So how could they know who
he was when the wind died down? If the wind
never blew. I'm telling you you're gonna know God in
(44:29):
a way that you couldn't have known God had you
not been a student of this storm. How much better
would you feel about the storm if you knew that
God was sinking you in the storm, that He was
bringing things, pictures and sounds that had to come to
(44:49):
the phone. And how dumb would you be to throw
it away because it hadn't sink yet. Yeah, even Peter
was sinking. He is still Simon at this moment. He
hadn't sync yet. I said, he hadn't sync yet. Where's
my real church at I know we always got spectators,
(45:12):
but I said, don't give up. You hadn't sync yet.
That's not good grammar. Yeah it is, and it's good theology.
No eye see, no ear has heard, neither has it
entered into the heart of a man. Okay, Okay. So
I'm driving to church today, right and I'm like, Lord,
I'm excited to preach, but I need one more illustration
(45:33):
to tell him how to get in sync, how to
get in sync, Yeah, exactly, how to get in sync,
how to get in sync, And so it's so much
easier to do it when you've got somebody in the
boat rowing with you, which is why when I come
to church on Sunday, I always bring Abbey with me.
If I can get her to wake up on time,
(45:53):
I beg her to come with me, because she unlocks
my love. And I don't want to come up here
in front of y'all and not have love. And if
I can ride to church with Abby and unlock my love,
I can talk to you from the love that I
have for her, and through that love, hopefully I can
communicate God's word. And hopefully I will not be like
playing symbols, just shouting stuff and spelling stuff and saying stuff,
(46:14):
but hopefully my love will come through. And one of
the practices that we have in driving to church is
a playlist that consists of songs that will lift our spirits,
a playlist of songs that are not Taylor Swift, although
she's fine, and that are not Gracy Abrams. But Sunday
mornings are not for Gracy Abrams. Just for the grace
of God is for the glory of God. So I
hand her a phone and she picks out the songs,
(46:35):
and today she picked out a shout no want, I
shall not Want, and we start singing the last verse
of shall not one. I remember when we wrote it
and we were talking about when this life is over,
I'm gonna live again, gonna trade this cross for a crown. No,
it's not the end. When he calls my name, I
will take my wrestlers. I'm mansioning glory and you're gonna
meet me there and I shall no Want. And I
told Abby, you know what song inspired me? Because a
(46:57):
lot of times on Sunday I use it as a
catch up time to show her songs that I listened
to when I was her age that made me love
worship and gospel music like I love it. Oh, I mean,
I show her some great stuff today, I said, I
need to show you He'll welcome me by John p
He and the New Life Community Choir from circ About
nineteen ninety four. Because you need to hear He'll welcome
(47:17):
me to understand shall not Want. Because if I never
heard He'll welcome me, I went in the road shall
not Want. So I need to play he'll welcome me.
And when the song came on, I got dangerous on
the driving because it's a fast song. It's not a
slow song. And then all of a sudden, I couldn't
stop my hands from clapping. I mean, I'm supposed to
be driving. I don't have a tesla, and I'm just clapping.
(47:38):
Put my hands off the wheel, and I'm singing every
ad lib, every single ad lift, every single ad live.
I'm living this life, just live up dead and with
a lord. I know that aunts out man. I'm a
tender watchers out shall stray with him? I say, who love?
This is Junn. I know every adelote in the night,
(48:02):
I know them all. He to be going, he to
be going. I'm clapping, I'm praising. I feel like I
just snorted cocaine or something. I'm so excited and I
never did that before. For the record, for the record,
for the record, for the record, But I'm clapping my
head all of a sudden, Abby start just to troll
(48:25):
me started. That's the one in the three, that's the
white people be. She's literally killing my spirit, killing my
(48:46):
spirit if she won't get in se see if we're
gonna do this ah end up on your feet. If
we're gonna do this, if we're gonna do this together,
(49:06):
we gotta get in this boat and clap.
Speaker 3 (49:09):
Our hands like you know that Jesus is praying for you,
that Jesus is coming.
Speaker 1 (49:25):
Few two three fourths, Flap those hairs like you're from
North Carolina, like you're from Pearl, North Carolina. Whoa, whoa.
(49:46):
And when the wind died down. First thirty three says,
when the wind died down, when the wind died down,
they worshiped, They worshiped, They worked them, They works them.
They works up from sacond the second I know it, so,
(50:28):
God said, as high as the heavens are a buff
e earth, so are my ways above your ways. Stop
doing it your way, and get his sink, get his step,
(50:48):
get his sink, get his step. That's those hands. And
just like this room shifted when we got in sinc
(51:12):
God said, when I send you a word from heaven,
my ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are
not your thoughts. So do what the disciples did. When
you feel what the disciples felt, and when you feel
(51:34):
like you're starting to sink in the storm, the Bible says,
call on the Lord, for he is near, and get
what he has for you and beg him to save you.
And do you not realize that Jesus was not late
to save Peter? Because the Bible says that the moment
(51:55):
that he called the name of Jesus, immediately he reached
out his hand. Why because while Peter was sinking, Jesus
was sinking. That's what I came to tell you. That's
(52:15):
why I came to tell you. Wow, That's what I
came to remind you is that you're not really alone
in the boat. That's why I came to encourage you
when your life feels barren and dry, that as the
rain falls from the heaven and waters the earth. What's
that synchronization? That's y N means together, cramous means time, synchronize.
(52:44):
God knows how to bring it together at the right
time the rainfalls in the season is supposed to. It's
amazing now Jesus knew just the right moment to step
in that boat. Don't you think that Jesus was at
least trolling them this much to wait until just before
the dawn to show up. And does it feel like
(53:07):
maybe right now he's running a little behind your schedule?
As well, that's okay. In fact, Mark's Gospel says that
Jesus pretended like he was going to pass them by,
and they thought. Everybody say, they thought he was a ghost.
Maybe this thing isn't a ghost. Maybe it's God coming
(53:27):
to get you. Maybe the thing you're afraid of is
the thing that God is using to answer your prayer.
Maybe it's him. Let's see, you don't know that when
you're in the storm. You really don't know. It was
God in the storm till the storm is over, and
(53:48):
then the wind died down, and then they worshiped. But
if you can be like Jesus and sink before the storm,
you won't sink in it. That's what I wanted to
tell you. That's what I wanted to remind.
Speaker 2 (54:03):
You of.
Speaker 1 (54:07):
The seed and the soil in Isaiah, the rain and
the earth and the Kingdom of God and the earth.
It's all about synchronization. Synchronization. Yeah, because I won't let
you sink. You won't let me sink. That was beautiful
what you told. Have you stay next to Dad, He
(54:29):
won't let it go bad. And watch this Peter only
started to sink. You're like, well, it didn't turn out
too good for Peter. The Bible says he started to sink.
But this is not called the drowning disciple. It's just
the one who slipped for a minute. Yeah, I don't
(54:50):
know where you've been slipping. I don't know where you've
been sinking. Just that quick, just that quick, just as
quick as he called his name. That all you have
to do is call on the name of the Lord,
and you will be saved. Bow your heads right now,
all over this room, at every location. The Bible says
that whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall
(55:11):
be saved. It is by grace, through faith you are saved,
not of yourselves. It is a gift of God. Lest
anyone should boast means all you got to do is
reach for him. He's already right there, And just that quick,
he'll forgive your sins. Just that quick, he'll wash you
with this blood. As quick as you repent, he'll forgive
turn to the Lord today, forsake your ways and embrace
(55:34):
His heads bowed, eyes closed. If you're watching online, maybe
you didn't even plan to join us today. But God
had a plan for you, and at this moment He
has synchronized this moment, so that this word would hit
your heart in this moment today, for those of you
who want to give your life to Jesus Christ for
the first time or come back to God, I'm going
to lead you in a prayer right now. It's a
(55:55):
simple prayer like the one that Peter prayed. Lord, save me,
Save me from my sin, Save me from myself. I
believe that you died for me, and now I want
you to live in me. Save me. God. This is
my new beginning. And right now, if that's your heart,
I want you to bow your head, close your eyes,
and we're praying out loud together for the benefit of
those who are coming to God. Repeat after me, Heavenly Father.
(56:19):
I am a sinner in need of a savior, and
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
and the savior of the world. And today I make
Jesus the Lord and savior of my life. I believe
(56:40):
he died that I would be forgiven and rose again
to give me life. I receive this new life. This
is my new beginning. I am a child of God.
On the counter, three shoots your hand up. If you
prayed that one two, three, put them up together. That's amazing.
(57:03):
That's amazing, incredible God, blessing, incredible, incredible. Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord. We're bringing you a Bible, praying for you.
We're here for you, we love you, for all of you. Hey,
(57:23):
don't leave. I'm about to bless you. Don't leave before
you get the blessing. Stop stop, stop, stop, stop stufstalk,
thank you. We leave in sync, and then I'll say
bye bye bye. All right, Praise the Lord. Campus fastors.
(57:44):
You can give e group instructions. Do I need to
say anything? JJ talk to talking again some other believers.
Just sync down. Ask somebody next to you who you
got in your boat? Ask them? Are they rowing in
the right direction? Join hands together. We're gonna pray together
(58:07):
and get out of here. And we're gonna take what
we got here on the mountain today, and we're gonna
carry it into the storm that we face tomorrow. And
even if we don't see it coming, Jesus does, because
the whole time they were in the boat straining, he
was on the mountain praying. He is a sinking savior.
(58:30):
He caught Peter immediately when he fell, because he is
a sinking savior. And you won't go down. Because now
unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, immeasurably
more than you ask or imagine, to him, be gloried
through Christ Jesus in the Church, now and forever. Amen.
(58:55):
If you love him, say amen. If this same thing
you know is say amen. Now you are business. God blessing. Well.
If you enjoyed the series, I sure love preaching it
to you. I love you God. Don't sink this week,
sink sink. Get with God. Man. He's gonna show you,
(59:17):
He's gonna use you, He's gonna show you up. We're
praying for you. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (59:28):
Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
this ministry.
Speaker 1 (59:32):
Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 2 (59:35):
You can click the link in the description to give
now or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for
more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
You can share it with your friends. You can click
the share button, take a screenshot and share it on
your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (59:52):
Thanks again for listening. God bless you
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope
this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it
gives your.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Perspective to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy
the message. Lift your name up. Lord. Thank you for
meeting us in the secret place. Lord. Thank you for
(00:38):
speaking to our hearts that it's going to be all
right and then we're gonna make it, and that you're
working your purpose out. Thank you for reminding us today
how big you are. God. Mountain is nothing to you.
That mountain is nothing to you. You're a big God,
(01:00):
a great God, a worthy God, a holy God, a
mighty God. I give you praise. Who are you great
mountain to stand before my God? I give you praise. Lord,
I worship you today. Not a shame to praise you,
not a shame to celebrate you. After everything you've done
(01:23):
for me, I owe you the praise. I owe you hollelujahs.
I owe you ten thousand more hallelujahs.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
If I had ten thousand tomes still, it wouldn't be enough.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
If I had ten thousand comes enough. So Lord, every
need in this room, every name in this room. You know,
we know the name that is above every name, the
name of Jesus in his name. Today we have gathered,
touching and agreed that it shall be done Your Kingdom,
(01:59):
come on earth as it is in heaven in our lives.
Touchdown now, God. I know technically that's not how it works,
but just bring heaven to earth for a few moments.
Thank you Lord for letting us get out of the
hell of our own heads and our own mines, and
just worship you and say Your Holy Lord. For all
(02:19):
of the people who didn't jump when I said jump,
forgive them, Lord, don't give them a flat tire. They're
just a little sore and a little tired and a
little insecure about their rhythm. But it's all right, Lord.
We came with one purpose, and one purpose only to
praise your holy name. Great is your name, greatly to
be praise in Jesus name. Amen. Hunt ten people.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Whoa this is the final week our series.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
That's what I thought. You are sad. You are so
sad to see this series come to an end. But
I feel that you have no more need of teaching
about your mind and your thoughts. I think that we
have preached all the crazy out of you. If you're
standing next to your spouse, look at him and say,
pastor is delusional. Stand a b on your feet. I'm
(03:25):
gonna read the scripture right now. I'm so glad you're
here today. A special welcome to two of our locations.
Our Matthew's location is celebrating a sixteen year anniversary today,
Praise the Lord. Our Uptown location is celebrating seventeen years
of ministry today. That's amazing. That's as old as my
(03:49):
middle son. Y'all. I look at my son and Graham
sometimes and say, I got campuses older than you. Boy. Yeah,
it's good. Remember, Officer, when we used to drive around,
we would do Butler High School uptown, get back over
to Providence. This is early days of the church, because
we didn't have all of this sinking up between all
(04:11):
the campuses and you know, look in the camera and
welcome to the campuses. We didn't have all of that.
So if I had to get to the campus, I
had to get there when they were finishing the last song.
And they knew to always have a few extra songs ready.
But Josh is a police officer, so he was driving
like one hundred and ten miles an hour. Happy birthday
to Josh van Almen. By the way, those are some
good memories man, Me and you and that Nissan Maxima
(04:35):
just doing ministry at the speed of God. I mean,
just running there, huffing and puffing like I am right now,
after jumping around and spinning around. By the way, if
any of you want to be preachers one day, I
would not advise jumping and spinning before you preach. It
is very disorienting. But I just got excited about what
God can do. All of a sudden, I got to thinking,
(05:02):
what if God answered a prayer that some grandmother has
been praying for her granddaughter suddenly today. What if God
gave you clarity on something you've been confused about suddenly today.
What if you were walking out today and one of
the greeters was handsome and single suddenly today. So I'm
(05:26):
excited about Jesus. I want to preach about Jesus today.
From Matthew chapter fourteen, verses twenty two through thirty five,
first Bible story that I ever preached for our last
sermon in the series. That's what I thought, Tell your neighbor,
that's what I thought. I say, this is the last one.
(05:48):
I think it's the last one. If the Lord wants
me to keep going, I will. But my plan is
today to take some of the things we've been preaching
about and minister them to your heart. Welcome to all
of our locations. Put it in the comment on YouTube.
That's what I thought. This is our final installment. Yeah,
this is the first Bible story that I ever preached,
so I always try to preach it at least once
(06:09):
a year, just to check in and see how dumb
I was the last time I preached it, or what
new thing God will show me. Glad you're here today. Welcome,
Welcome to the presence of God. Welcome to a new beginning.
Welcome to a space where Grace reigns supreme and where
Jesus is Lord and King. Welcome to a place where
(06:30):
you can hear his word. Now, the Bible says a word.
We were just singing about this word in verse twenty two,
so it's appropriate. Immediately immediately Jesus made the disciples get
into the boat and go on ahead of him to
the other side. Well, he dismissed the crowd. After he
(06:51):
had dismissed them, he went up on a mountain side
by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there
alone boat with the disciples. The boat was already a
considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the
wind was against it. Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out
(07:13):
to them walking on the lake. When the disciples saw
him on the lake, they were terrified. It's a ghost,
they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately
said to them, take courage it as I don't be afraid. Lord,
if it's you. Peter replied, tell me to come to
(07:36):
you on the water. Come, he said. When Peter got
down out of the boat, walked on the water and
came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, it
was blowing the whole dime. But when he focused on
it what was against him. When he saw the wind,
(08:00):
he was afraid. Fear comes from focus. So does faith
change your focus? Increase your faith. That's why you feel
faith when you're in here, because you are focused in here.
And when he focused on what was against him, rather
than the one who was coming toward him, named Jesus,
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he began to sink. He began to sink and cried out, Lord,
save me. Here it is again. Immediately Jesus reached out
his hand and caught him. You of little faith, He said,
why did you doubt? Why did you doubt? And when
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they climbed into the boat, the wind died down, and
those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, truly,
this is the son of God. But go back to
that other verse real quick, in verse thirty. But when
he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink,
cried out, Lord, save me, And immediately Jesus reached out
his hand and caught him. I want to talk to
you today from this subject because this is how some
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of you have been feeling. I want to talk about
sinking in the storm. Sinking in the storm. This is
the way it feels at times in our emotions, and
in our lives, and in our circumstances, sinking in the storm.
And there is a subtitle that you can give your
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neighbor on the way to your seat, look at them
and say just that quick. Hit your other neighbor and
say just that quick, and you may be seated sinking
in the storm. Please put the title in the comments
on YouTube. Let's welcome our global EPHAM joining up with
us right now. Come on, y'all. I know you're getting seated,
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but let's welcome our entire church family all over the world.
Let us know where you're watching from. I want to
talk to you today about sinking in the storm. Feeling
that you get sometimes that you're overwhelmed. The feeling that
you get sometimes that there's too much month and not
enough money, too much need and not enough me to
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meet it. All that's spread thin feeling, that feeling that
you get, and it doesn't always announce itself, And all
of a sudden there is a storm and you find
yourself sinking in the storm. Any crazy how you can
be singing in the church and just a few days
later find yourself sinking in the storm. And this place
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is a place that God has prepared for us, to
prepare us for the storms of our life. You cannot
be a student of Jesus without storms as your classroom.
Anything else would make you arrogant, anything else would make
you write a parenting book. And your oldest kid is three,
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you're three months pregnant, talking about how to raise teenagers
God's way. What's wrong? Would you go through a storm
and then you'll have something to say in this season
of your life, God is calling you to be a
student of your storm. What does this have to do
with thinking? Well, it's amazing to me how quickly I
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can go from stepping on the water, so to speak,
to sinking. And I can really shift quickly from being
focused on God to falling down and finding myself in
emotional states that do not resemble the fruit of the spirit. Okay,
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just me, just me, look at your neighbors. Say. It
can happen quick. It can happen real quick. And if
your neighbor is looking like they don't know what I'm
talking about, cut them off in traffic on the way
out and see how quick they go from lifting their
hands to lifting one finger. It can happen just that quick.
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Can it? Just even your phone can buzz in your pocket,
And it might not even be the person that you
don't want to hear from, with the news that you
don't want to hear, But just the buzz itself can
disrupt your peace. Can it? Even just even the buzz
in your pocket, it can feel like a shot collar,
just reminding you that your challenges are out there in
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the world. Sometimes it can happen just that quick. Now.
I'm so glad that Jesus is a savior because I'm
a sinner, so I need one and I have sinful thoughts.
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All of my thoughts aren't holy thoughts, good thoughts, pure thoughts,
and so I need Jesus for my sinful thoughts, which
can become sinful actions, which can become sinful patterns, which
may not send me to hell, but may make my
life on earth feel like a living hell. I'm so
grateful that Jesus is a savior, and I am also
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so thankful that he is not a surface level savior.
That he doesn't just save me from hell when I die,
but he saves me from the hell in my head
as he transforms my mind and brings me through life's challenges.
I need salvation in my soul. That's my mind, my will,
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my emotions. I need Jesus to teach me how to think.
And in this passage that we just read, there's a
conversation between the student of Jesus and Jesus the Savior,
and Jesus is watching him sink in the storm. By
the way, have you been feeling like you're sinking in
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a storm lately in your life. And it doesn't have
to even be bankruptcy. It doesn't even have to be
something so catastrophic that everybody would take up money for
you if they knew about it. It doesn't have to
be the worst thing that ever happened in your life.
I just found that a lot of times I find
myself in like a funk or maybe even a full
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blown feeling of depression. And in those moments when God
is watching me sink into those states, I'm grateful that
He does not give me surface level answers like church
people do. Because church people will tell you rejoice in
the Lord always, but they ain't rejoicing in the Lord.
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They only been rejoicing in the Lord because they had
a good week. Catch them next week and they might
have a different answer. It can happen that quick. And
Jesus watching Peter fall in the middle of a storm
that had been raging all night. Remember he's been going
through this all night, and he steps out, and he's
walking and he's sinking, and he cries out, Lord save me.
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I think that's such an important phrase. One great theologian
who just went to be with the Lord. Doctor John
MacArthur used to say, a lot of us refuse Jesus
as Lord, but we want to use Jesus as savior.
So I think it's important that he called him Lord
before he called on him to save him. I'm trying
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to say that God wants far more for your life
than to just save you from stupid stuff that you do.
He wants far more for your life than to just
clean up the messes that you make because you never
spend time with him. God wants far more for your
life than to have to redeem years that you waste
because you never get aligned with him. And so now
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Peter calls out, Lord, save me, and the Bible says,
immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. Now
we focus a lot, and I really preached this a
lot at age sixteen. How Peter had the faith to
step out when Jesus said, come, somebody shall come. That's
a command. When Jesus gives a command, you can obey
it with confidence. When Jesus gives a command, you don't
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have to start doing the math on how it's going
to work out. When Jesus gives a command. He already
has the details in mind for how he will meet
that need before you even know about the need. So
when he says, come, take a step, and then we
talk so much about the command that we neglect the
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question that I think is just as powerful as the command.
He said, come, Peter's coming, He said, walk. Peter's walking.
He gave the word, and Peter is walking, not on water,
but on one word from Jesus. I could preach a
whole message about walking on one word, just one word
that God gives you, and you can hang on through
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something that you never would have made it through without
that word, one word from Jesus, the command to come.
But then comes the question. After he caught him, he said,
you of little faith, why did you doubt? Why did
you doubt? Because if I can get beneath the surface
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of why you're sinking, I can maybe stop it from
happening so quickly next time. A lot of times we
sink into things and we don't stop and ask why.
A lot of times we get triggered by something. And
after you get triggered, see you get trapped. You don't
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even realize how you got triggered until you're already trapped.
I'll break it down for you. I can see we
need a little real life example right now. When Holly
and I first got married, we went on a cruise.
I saved up for the cruise. It was a Princess cruise,
which is a little step up from some of the
other cruises you can buy. I was so proud of
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that cruise and so broke after I paid for it.
Three days on the cruise, she was very quiet one day.
And when she got quiet on that cruise, it triggered
something inside of me that I didn't know because I
equated quiet with board. So when she got quiet, I
started to get angry because she was quiet. For Holly,
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quiet means relaxed. Quiet means nobody telling me to do anything.
I don't have to talk. I love you. We're together
just being This is what she was saying. Your essence
alone is so captivating. We don't even need a conversation.
But I interpreted her quiet as boredom, and we would
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fight for years in our marriage. Anytime she would get quiet,
I would think, you don't like it here, This isn't
good enough for you. Your dad took you on better vacations.
What you don't need my vacation. No, I'm relaxed. But see,
just in such a stupid illustration like that, you see
how years can go on because I'm reading her mind
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with information that is not true data, and I am
triggered by something that isn't even true. But by the
time I recognize what I'm triggered by, I'm already trapped
in it. And now we're fighting. And so now it's
not that we never get triggered in our marriage. But
here's what we do, and I want to teach you
how to do this. We catch it quicker, We catch
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it quicker. Don't your neighbors say, catch it quicker, Catch
it quicker before you blow up on them, before you
go off on them, before you hit sind on the text,
proofread it, hire yourself as a copy editor, and check
that thing one more time. Do you really want to
say you never? Do you really want to say you always?
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Do you really need six exclamation points? Is it really
worth that emoji? Is that emoji worth the emotional expense
of what you are going to spend the next week
cleaning up? And all of that could have been canceled
if you would have caught it quicker and read the
text and walk up in the morning with fresh eyes
and said, I think I'll just have a conversation. But
we get triggered and then we get trapped. And that's
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why the Lord sent a preacher to you today to
give you truth, because the truth can keep you out
of the trap. Preach the word, Larry Stevens Vernick Junior.
I believe I will. So when you start sinking, you
get beneath the surface. And this is what we need
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to learn to do.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Now.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
They'll tell you that in therapy, if you go to therapy,
they'll talk about triggers and traps and cognitive distortions. And
you sound like you've been in therapy. Best or Seed,
no comment. We need therapy, we also need theology to
produce real faith and real change in our life. So
(20:52):
I want to show you something that I couldn't end
the series without showing you from Isaiah fifty five and
overlay it for this situation that you're facing in your life.
The situation Peter faced where he's stepping, stepping, stepping, doing
pretty good and then sinking and doesn't even really understand why.
Look at Isaiah chapter fifty five, and I was debating
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where to start, because the whole passage is so rich.
But for the sake of time, I think i'll start
around verse six seven. It start six Isaiah fifty five,
verse six. Yeah, I did on purpose. Isaiah fifty five,
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verse six. Now listen to me. This is an invitation
to all of you who have been sinking in the storm.
The Lord offers you an invitation. The wind is the
trigger and the sinking is the trap, and sometimes you
feel like you're drowning in it before you even know
what it is. But this is the word of the Lord,
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and this will be very rich to you for the
trials that you're going through. The Lord says, seek the
Lord while he may be found, call on him while
he is near. Let's read that again, Seek the Lord
while he may be found, Call on him while he
is near. I'm coming back to that, call on him
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while he's near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and
the unrighteous their thoughts. So this is interesting language. I'll
read the whole passage, but that's where I want to
camp out around verse six or seven. Let the wicked
forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them
turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on
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them and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are my
ways your ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher,
higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than
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your ways. God says, I know how to do my job.
God says, I know who to let leave you. God says,
I know who to bring into your life. That is
a challenge for you. You keep praying to be a masterpiece,
and every time I send someone to be the sandpaper,
you push them away. But I know what tools to
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you to turn you into the disciple that I want
you to be. He says, my ways are higher than
your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the
rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do
not return to it without watering the earth and making
it butt and flourish, so that it yields seed for
the sower and bread for the eater. So is my
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word that goes out from my mouth. I hear Jesus
saying come. When I read Isaiah fifty five, I feel
the echo of this prophecy. In Matthew chapter fourteen, I
feel the power of one word from God? He says,
so is my word just one word? So is my
word the full counsel of the Word of God has value,
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but just one singular word that goes from my mouth.
It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish
what I desire and achieve the purpose. Many are the plans,
but it is the purpose for which I scent it
that will be accomplished. So why did Jesus send a
disciple into a storm that he knew was going to happen?
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And why does God allow challenges to our faith instead
of just bolstering us with the Bible so that we
avoid them? And Isaiah chapter fifty five gives an interesting strategy. Okay,
let me teach you what Isaiah is teaching here. He says,
you can seek the Lord, you can call on him,
but you have to be willing verse seven to forsake
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your ways and your unrighteous thoughts. Now that's interesting language
to say that I'm going to forsake a thought. That's
crazy to me me because when you say forsake something,
it's something that you have become very attached to. You
don't forsake something that you don't even know, You don't
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even know it. To forsake something is to walk away
from something that it is assumed you have responsibility for.
So when God says I will never leave you nor
forsake you, forsaking has baked into it the idea that
I am responsible for this. I'm not saying it right.
I say it. You can drop a thought like this book.
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You can drop a thought he said, forsake your ways
because My ways are higher, and your thoughts that are
not from God. And how many times have I been
drowning in my mind and in my life because of
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the thought that I wouldn't drop about my situation? How
many times have I clung to an offense while I'm
drowning in my bitterness and I am asking God to
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help me forgive. But if I don't drop, I'm gonna
do it again. If I don't drop the thought, I drown.
That's what I'm trying to say. Now. I said it
the way I want to say it. Tell your neighbor
drop it or drown. That's the only two options you
have right now, because you can't afford to play around
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with this right now, because there's too much at stake
at this juncture of your life. Right now, it's drop
it or drown. You've got to stop thinking childishly about
this and waiting on people to come around and make
it right. And you just got to get your heart
right with God. And you've got to let him show
you what he's going to do from the place that
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you're at, not the place that you want it to be.
Punch your neighbors say, drop it. Drop it so you
don't drown. Drop it so you don't keep sinking. Drop
it so it doesn't weigh you down. Drop it so
you don't miss the last the next season that God
wants to give you crying about the season that you lost.
You better drop this thing. And the thing about dropping
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a thought is it's kind of hard for me to
drop my thought until I understand that God can also
drop a thought. This is one thing I'm ready to
preach today. This is one thing that me and God
have in common. We can both drop thoughts. I can
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take a thought in my mind. I can take a
tempting thought. I can take a bitter thought. I could
take an angry thought. I can take a victimized thought.
I can take a catastrophizing thought. I can take a
wicked thought. I can take a thought, and I can
look at it, and I can separate myself from the thought,
and by the grace of Jesus, by the grace of God,
by the power of the Holy Spirit, I can look
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at the thought and realize that just because I think
it doesn't mean I have to be it. So I
can drop a thought. And how dumb would it be
for you to drown on this sea because of something
you won't drop. How dumb would it be? The Bible says,
forsake your thoughts when they're not God's ways. His ways
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are higher. So when He shows you the higher way,
don't stay down in the way you did it, the
way they did it, the way you thought you were
gonna do it. Drop your thoughts so God can drop
his What you mean, God can drop a thought? I
mean like airdrop. I mean like how I could take
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my phone and put it next to your phone, and
if it's near enough, you can choose to share with
me what's on your phone On my phone. If we
are close enough to connect, you can drop something to
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me that I didn't come with. And now you know
why it was important for you to be at church
today so you could get close to God and close
to somebody, fist pump your neighbor and say, I'll drop
you some faith today. Fist bump them real quick and
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say I got something for you. Tell them I'll air
drop you some peace today. I'll air drop you some
joy today. The Bible says that if two of you
will agree, well we got a lot more than two,
baby boy. And the holy ghost in me is the
holy ghost in you. And if you came a little
empty today, there is a word from God. And if
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you don't feel it right now, then grace him by faith.
Know something clicks in your spirit and you get the
sense I think I'm gonna be all right. Top five
your neighbor, like your air dropping something. Oh that's good,
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isn't it? Isn't that good to know that God can
drop you a thought. Forget about a human They might
not have it. But if I'm close enough to Jesus,
what I didn't get from other people, what I didn't
have in my flesh, God did by sending his son. See,
so you can drop a thought, and so can God.
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And the moment you drop your low thought, the moment
you drop your human thought, the moment you drop your
sinking thought. Notice the Bible says that immediate lee, Jesus
reached out his hand and caught him. Why did Jesus
catch him at that moment and instead of keeping him
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from the storm. Good question, because probably wouldn't be a
good story. Second thing I want to mention to you
is what Jesus was doing before he joined the disciples
on the rough sea. When you get in those situations,
doubt in fear, flooding your heart, drowning in doubt, flooded
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with fear, drowning in doubt, flooded in fear. Oh, it
came so quick. I don't know what to do. There
is something that Jesus models for us that is so
important to remember. And at our Elevation Night's events, if
you ever come, you'll see a very special moment that
we have that we host each night in each city
where we sing the song the Blessing. And before we
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sing it, I have Abby and Holly join me on stage,
and Abby, since she was about eleven years old, comes
up and reads the scripture. She has it my memory
now of course numbers chapter six, verse twenty two through
twenty four. She'd say it backwards now, but the first
time asked her to do it. I was like, would
you mind coming up and reading the scripture that the
blessing comes from and sang it over the people. I
think it'll be really special. And I was expecting her
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to be nervous to do that. I was like, would
you like to do it? Would it be too scary.
It's like, let me be scary. I'd love to do it,
just very confident, very quickly. She got up the first
night and nailed it, and she has nailed it every
single night well. On the last tour. On the last tour,
I made a few changes to how I wanted to
present it. And when I made a few changes and alterations,
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you know, I saw her start to get a little uncertain.
She was like, well, no, wait a minute. If Dad
announces the scripture here and it comes after this song,
because when things change like that, it could be destabilizing,
even if you really know what you're doing. I am
coming for you today, because things can change on you
and you're like, no, wait, I know how to do this,
but not like right here, like this right now, not
with them right here right now. I'm just kind of
(33:07):
be stabilized. So she was kind of complaining to Holly
that Dad is changing the schedule, and Dad is changing
the order of elevation nights, and this is going to
mess up my flow. And Holly pulled her to the
side and she said something, and I was very proud
to hear her tell Abby this. She said, Abby, if
there is one thing I have learned in over twenty
years of doing ministry with your dad, it's that if
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you are with Dad on stage, you don't need to
worry if he is near you. If you're next to Dad,
he won't let it go bad. Abby. Even if you
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drop the line in the middle, even if you say Halley,
he'll say Lujah. Even if you say praise the he'll
say Lord. He is not going to let it go bad.
If you are next to Dad, he won't let it
go bad. And you got to think. The Disciples have
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been doing ministry with Jesus for a little while now.
This is Matthew chapter fourteen, not Matthew chapter one. They've
seen some things, and they've even been through storms. But
this one is different because the last storm they went
through with Jesus, he was on the boat with them.
This one's a little different because they just got done
(34:35):
with a spectacular miracle and I want to tell you
something about spectacular things that God does in your life.
Just as quickly as you start to celebrate the spectacular,
a new struggle can show up just that quick. Somebody
say it just that quit. I mean they just picked
(34:56):
up the leftovers. They just dismissed the crowds. Jesus says,
I need you boys to go to the next appointment,
But he conveniently leaves out the detail that you are
going to encounter a violent, furious squall on the open
sea getting to where I'm sending you. But I'm not
telling you about that part because, as I taught you
last week, details follow obedience. So when Jesus gives a command,
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he does not have to give you every single component
of that command. He wants to put you in school
to know. Will you be my disciple if I don't
give you the details, will you do what I told
you to do when you don't know where it's leading?
And into this atmosphere. The disciples are straining in the
boat all night long. I mean, you really can't see
(35:41):
it from Matthew's account. It says in Mark's account that
they were straining at the oars. It means that they
were all rowing together all night long, but Jesus was
not physically with them. What was Jesus doing? In Matthew
Chapter fourteen, verse twenty two, the Bible says, immediately after
sending the crowd away, dismissing them and sending them home,
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and the disciples in the boat to go to the
next appointment and go on ahead of him to the
other side while he dismissed the crowd verse twenty three.
After he had dismissed them, he went up on a
mountain side by himself to pray. Later that night, he
was there alone next verse, and the boat was already
(36:26):
a considerable distance from land. You don't have to be
nervous when you're next to Dad. But now I'm in
a season where the boat is out here and Jesus
is back there. Yet note what Jesus is doing. He
is praying. Watch this. Jesus is getting alone with God
(36:51):
to get aligned with God. And sometimes when you're facing
all of these crazy thoughts in your life, you've got
to remember to get alone with God to get aligned
with God. Alone with God, to get aligned with God.
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He's praying on a mountain. My ways are higher. See
remember the people wanted to make Jesus an earthly king,
but he came to die on a criminal's cross, and
at this moment in his life, it was really important
that he did not follow the crowd's recommendation for his
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next step, because to follow the crowd at this moment
would have pulled him off of the path of his
father's purpose. Are you in that moment, pulling at you
from one side, pulling at you from the other, one
person telling you that you need to be skinnier, one
person telling you that you could stand to put a
little meat on the bones. I went on Holly's Instagram
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feed the other day. I didn't know they were telling
women to eat protein and creatine to be reserved for
teenage boys. When did the women get to do the
protein and creatine that's supposed to be our thing? Man?
Now she's being told. I'm like, what are you doing, Holly?
You're lifting weights? Used to do cardio. She's like, yeah,
that's what I'm supposed to do now, And if you're
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not careful, you'll be lifting a weight and drinking a
protein shake and putting on weight and losing weight because
they will change it in three years. We are only
three years away from them telling us that creatine causes
cancer and it makes your mom hates she gives you
bad breath and make all your babies born to form.
I mean, they're changing it all the time. So if
I don't ever get alone with God, I can't be
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aligned with God because it's too much noise, it's too
much crowd. I'm sinking. Am I sinking because I'm not sitting?
And if I would sit with God sometimes, or even
just in a moment where I'm about to walk into something,
(38:59):
if I was myself and say, oh, Lord, you know
I'm about to be triggered in here. Well, I don't
want to get trapped. Lord, you know it's about to
be windy when I walk into this situation. I wonder
what one moment with God could do for you this
week before you go into a windy condition. Just a
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moment with him. Now, Jesus, he's up there praying all night,
and he has to because what He's about to do
is so amazing. When he lands on the other side,
he is going to heal the sick. But the disciples
don't know that. When he lands on the other side,
there is a revival waiting. But the disciples don't know that.
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All they know is they're going through a storm. And
may I remind you you have no idea what God
has on the other side of your storm. You have
no idea how He's going to use you. You have no
idea how He is going to unleash something that could
have never otherwise been unleashed in your life. See now,
I see the passage a little bit differently. In Matthew
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chapter fourteen, when it says Peter began to sink, put
that back up there for a minute. It says Peter
began to sink, and he cried out, Lord, save me,
verse thirty one. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and
caught him. You have little faith, I realized as I
(40:24):
read that over and over again, and I thought about
Jesus spending all night praying alone on the mountain and
making intercession for us and Heaven. Right now I realized
that Peter wasn't the only one sinking. Jesus was too.
Y'all think I'm a hero itic. Hold on, I got
(40:46):
to explain this the right way. Thinking has two different meanings.
If you spell it si NK, it means going down.
(41:07):
But if you spell it sync. It's more than a
boy band. It means if you've got something on your
phone that I need on my phone, and we get
close enough, we can sink. So maybe this passage isn't
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about a sinking Peter. Maybe it's about a sinking savior.
Phone drop moment, Phone drop moment, Phone drop moment, Because
now I realize, no, no, keep celebrating, keep celebrating. I
need a way to preach this. Now I realize that
(41:54):
the whole time he was on that mountain, he was
praying for Peter, because while Peter was sinking, Jesus was sinking.
And my way are higher than your ways, and my
thought are higher than your thought. So I came to declare,
(42:17):
you're not going down. Jesus is praying for you. He's
praying for you. He's praying for you. He sees you
in this storm, he sees you in this dilemma. He
sees you, and he's sinking. He's sinking. Sometimes you gotta
(42:41):
sink in the storm, not go down in the storm,
but hook up with God and say, if it's you,
tell me to come, give me a worse, show me away,
send me a path, make me away. God, Your neighbor,
you look like you're sinking. I'm sinking with a C.
(43:04):
I'm sinking with a what yo? When I got this phone.
I remember, I got this new phone, and none of
the stuff was on it that was supposed to be
on it for a little while. And if I would
have assumed that the new phone was worse because all
of the old pictures, all of the old songs, all
of the old data, all of the old files was
not on the new phone, I would have been incorrect.
(43:26):
Because everything that was on my phone before I got
the new one was still there. It was just in
something called the cloud. Now I don't know where the
cloud technically is. I kind of get it, but I
thought about Isaiah fifty five. As high as the heavens
are above the herd, so or my ways above your ways.
(43:48):
I tell your neighbor, I got something in the cloud.
I got a promise that's yes, and amen, I got
a sure work for God. He put me here, he
called me here, and so it was sinking. It was sinking.
(44:08):
Jesus didn't leave them. He was sinking. He was sinking.
He had to let them struggle a little while so
they could know who he is. As a matter of fact,
they didn't even call him the son of God till
the wind died down, So how could they know who
he was when the wind died down? If the wind
never blew. I'm telling you you're gonna know God in
(44:29):
a way that you couldn't have known God had you
not been a student of this storm. How much better
would you feel about the storm if you knew that
God was sinking you in the storm, that He was
bringing things, pictures and sounds that had to come to
(44:49):
the phone. And how dumb would you be to throw
it away because it hadn't sink yet. Yeah, even Peter
was sinking. He is still Simon at this moment. He
hadn't sync yet. I said, he hadn't sync yet. Where's
my real church at I know we always got spectators,
(45:12):
but I said, don't give up. You hadn't sync yet.
That's not good grammar. Yeah it is, and it's good theology.
No eye see, no ear has heard, neither has it
entered into the heart of a man. Okay, Okay. So
I'm driving to church today, right and I'm like, Lord,
I'm excited to preach, but I need one more illustration
(45:33):
to tell him how to get in sync, how to
get in sync, Yeah, exactly, how to get in sync,
how to get in sync, And so it's so much
easier to do it when you've got somebody in the
boat rowing with you, which is why when I come
to church on Sunday, I always bring Abbey with me.
If I can get her to wake up on time,
(45:53):
I beg her to come with me, because she unlocks
my love. And I don't want to come up here
in front of y'all and not have love. And if
I can ride to church with Abby and unlock my love,
I can talk to you from the love that I
have for her, and through that love, hopefully I can
communicate God's word. And hopefully I will not be like
playing symbols, just shouting stuff and spelling stuff and saying stuff,
(46:14):
but hopefully my love will come through. And one of
the practices that we have in driving to church is
a playlist that consists of songs that will lift our spirits,
a playlist of songs that are not Taylor Swift, although
she's fine, and that are not Gracy Abrams. But Sunday
mornings are not for Gracy Abrams. Just for the grace
of God is for the glory of God. So I
hand her a phone and she picks out the songs,
(46:35):
and today she picked out a shout no want, I
shall not Want, and we start singing the last verse
of shall not one. I remember when we wrote it
and we were talking about when this life is over,
I'm gonna live again, gonna trade this cross for a crown. No,
it's not the end. When he calls my name, I
will take my wrestlers. I'm mansioning glory and you're gonna
meet me there and I shall no Want. And I
told Abby, you know what song inspired me? Because a
(46:57):
lot of times on Sunday I use it as a
catch up time to show her songs that I listened
to when I was her age that made me love
worship and gospel music like I love it. Oh, I mean,
I show her some great stuff today, I said, I
need to show you He'll welcome me by John p
He and the New Life Community Choir from circ About
nineteen ninety four. Because you need to hear He'll welcome
(47:17):
me to understand shall not Want. Because if I never
heard He'll welcome me, I went in the road shall
not Want. So I need to play he'll welcome me.
And when the song came on, I got dangerous on
the driving because it's a fast song. It's not a
slow song. And then all of a sudden, I couldn't
stop my hands from clapping. I mean, I'm supposed to
be driving. I don't have a tesla, and I'm just clapping.
(47:38):
Put my hands off the wheel, and I'm singing every
ad lib, every single ad lift, every single ad live.
I'm living this life, just live up dead and with
a lord. I know that aunts out man. I'm a
tender watchers out shall stray with him? I say, who love?
This is Junn. I know every adelote in the night,
(48:02):
I know them all. He to be going, he to
be going. I'm clapping, I'm praising. I feel like I
just snorted cocaine or something. I'm so excited and I
never did that before. For the record, for the record,
for the record, for the record, But I'm clapping my
head all of a sudden, Abby start just to troll
(48:25):
me started. That's the one in the three, that's the
white people be. She's literally killing my spirit, killing my
(48:46):
spirit if she won't get in se see if we're
gonna do this ah end up on your feet. If
we're gonna do this, if we're gonna do this together,
(49:06):
we gotta get in this boat and clap.
Speaker 3 (49:09):
Our hands like you know that Jesus is praying for you,
that Jesus is coming.
Speaker 1 (49:25):
Few two three fourths, Flap those hairs like you're from
North Carolina, like you're from Pearl, North Carolina. Whoa, whoa.
(49:46):
And when the wind died down. First thirty three says,
when the wind died down, when the wind died down,
they worshiped, They worshiped, They worked them, They works them.
They works up from sacond the second I know it, so,
(50:28):
God said, as high as the heavens are a buff
e earth, so are my ways above your ways. Stop
doing it your way, and get his sink, get his step,
(50:48):
get his sink, get his step. That's those hands. And
just like this room shifted when we got in sinc
(51:12):
God said, when I send you a word from heaven,
my ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are
not your thoughts. So do what the disciples did. When
you feel what the disciples felt, and when you feel
(51:34):
like you're starting to sink in the storm, the Bible says,
call on the Lord, for he is near, and get
what he has for you and beg him to save you.
And do you not realize that Jesus was not late
to save Peter? Because the Bible says that the moment
(51:55):
that he called the name of Jesus, immediately he reached
out his hand. Why because while Peter was sinking, Jesus
was sinking. That's what I came to tell you. That's
(52:15):
why I came to tell you. Wow, That's what I
came to remind you is that you're not really alone
in the boat. That's why I came to encourage you
when your life feels barren and dry, that as the
rain falls from the heaven and waters the earth. What's
that synchronization? That's y N means together, cramous means time, synchronize.
(52:44):
God knows how to bring it together at the right
time the rainfalls in the season is supposed to. It's
amazing now Jesus knew just the right moment to step
in that boat. Don't you think that Jesus was at
least trolling them this much to wait until just before
the dawn to show up. And does it feel like
(53:07):
maybe right now he's running a little behind your schedule?
As well, that's okay. In fact, Mark's Gospel says that
Jesus pretended like he was going to pass them by,
and they thought. Everybody say, they thought he was a ghost.
Maybe this thing isn't a ghost. Maybe it's God coming
(53:27):
to get you. Maybe the thing you're afraid of is
the thing that God is using to answer your prayer.
Maybe it's him. Let's see, you don't know that when
you're in the storm. You really don't know. It was
God in the storm till the storm is over, and
(53:48):
then the wind died down, and then they worshiped. But
if you can be like Jesus and sink before the storm,
you won't sink in it. That's what I wanted to
tell you. That's what I wanted to remind.
Speaker 2 (54:03):
You of.
Speaker 1 (54:07):
The seed and the soil in Isaiah, the rain and
the earth and the Kingdom of God and the earth.
It's all about synchronization. Synchronization. Yeah, because I won't let
you sink. You won't let me sink. That was beautiful
what you told. Have you stay next to Dad, He
(54:29):
won't let it go bad. And watch this Peter only
started to sink. You're like, well, it didn't turn out
too good for Peter. The Bible says he started to sink.
But this is not called the drowning disciple. It's just
the one who slipped for a minute. Yeah, I don't
(54:50):
know where you've been slipping. I don't know where you've
been sinking. Just that quick, just that quick, just as
quick as he called his name. That all you have
to do is call on the name of the Lord,
and you will be saved. Bow your heads right now,
all over this room, at every location. The Bible says
that whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall
(55:11):
be saved. It is by grace, through faith you are saved,
not of yourselves. It is a gift of God. Lest
anyone should boast means all you got to do is
reach for him. He's already right there, And just that quick,
he'll forgive your sins. Just that quick, he'll wash you
with this blood. As quick as you repent, he'll forgive
turn to the Lord today, forsake your ways and embrace
(55:34):
His heads bowed, eyes closed. If you're watching online, maybe
you didn't even plan to join us today. But God
had a plan for you, and at this moment He
has synchronized this moment, so that this word would hit
your heart in this moment today, for those of you
who want to give your life to Jesus Christ for
the first time or come back to God, I'm going
to lead you in a prayer right now. It's a
(55:55):
simple prayer like the one that Peter prayed. Lord, save me,
Save me from my sin, Save me from myself. I
believe that you died for me, and now I want
you to live in me. Save me. God. This is
my new beginning. And right now, if that's your heart,
I want you to bow your head, close your eyes,
and we're praying out loud together for the benefit of
those who are coming to God. Repeat after me, Heavenly Father.
(56:19):
I am a sinner in need of a savior, and
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
and the savior of the world. And today I make
Jesus the Lord and savior of my life. I believe
(56:40):
he died that I would be forgiven and rose again
to give me life. I receive this new life. This
is my new beginning. I am a child of God.
On the counter, three shoots your hand up. If you
prayed that one two, three, put them up together. That's amazing.
(57:03):
That's amazing, incredible God, blessing, incredible, incredible. Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord. We're bringing you a Bible, praying for you.
We're here for you, we love you, for all of you. Hey,
(57:23):
don't leave. I'm about to bless you. Don't leave before
you get the blessing. Stop stop, stop, stop, stop stufstalk,
thank you. We leave in sync, and then I'll say
bye bye bye. All right, Praise the Lord. Campus fastors.
(57:44):
You can give e group instructions. Do I need to
say anything? JJ talk to talking again some other believers.
Just sync down. Ask somebody next to you who you
got in your boat? Ask them? Are they rowing in
the right direction? Join hands together. We're gonna pray together
(58:07):
and get out of here. And we're gonna take what
we got here on the mountain today, and we're gonna
carry it into the storm that we face tomorrow. And
even if we don't see it coming, Jesus does, because
the whole time they were in the boat straining, he
was on the mountain praying. He is a sinking savior.
(58:30):
He caught Peter immediately when he fell, because he is
a sinking savior. And you won't go down. Because now
unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, immeasurably
more than you ask or imagine, to him, be gloried
through Christ Jesus in the Church, now and forever. Amen.
(58:55):
If you love him, say amen. If this same thing
you know is say amen. Now you are business. God blessing. Well.
If you enjoyed the series, I sure love preaching it
to you. I love you God. Don't sink this week,
sink sink. Get with God. Man. He's gonna show you,
(59:17):
He's gonna use you, He's gonna show you up. We're
praying for you. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (59:28):
Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
this ministry.
Speaker 1 (59:32):
Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 2 (59:35):
You can click the link in the description to give
now or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for
more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
You can share it with your friends. You can click
the share button, take a screenshot and share it on
your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (59:52):
Thanks again for listening. God bless you
Host
Steven Furtick
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